Převážná část bohatých radiolaritových industrií z moravské strany Bílých Karpat pochází z mladého neolitu, příp. počátku eneolitu. Nalézá se ve zvláštním typu stanic, jež nenaplňují kriteria trvalého zemědělského osídlení (nedostatek zahloubených struktur, keramiky a broušených nástrojů), avšak ani parametry dílenských stanovišť (vzdálenost od vlastních výchozů, pokročilá redukce suroviny, srpové čepelky). Jediné dvě lokality, které snad můžeme kulturně klasifikovat (gravettien?), leží bezprostředně nad řekou Vlárou (Bylnice II a Vlachovice), což souhlasí se sídelním vzorcem zmíněné kultury. V blízkosti zdrojů radiolaritu lze očekávat stopy všech mladopaleolitických skupin s výjimkou bohunicienu, kde je radiolarit vzácností. Přestože se radiolarit nejvíce šíří ve starší době kamenné, zůstávají paleolitické artefakty na moravské straně v Bílých Karpat velmi sporé. Některé z nich lze však datovat již do středního paleolitu. V neolitu a eneolitu, kam by měla spadat domnělá těžba (bezpečně zatím nedoložená), využití této suroviny rapidně klesá, a to i na východní Moravě. Pokud budeme extrakci a distribuci silicitů přisuzovat jen praktické funkce, nebudeme schopni tyto rozpory uspokojivě vysvětlit. and Major part of the abundant radiolarite industries from the Moravian side of the White Carpathians dates to the Late Neolithic or to the onset of the Eneolithic. These industries come from a special type of sites, which meet neither the criteria of a permanent agrarian occupation (lack of recessed structures, pottery and polished tools) nor the parameters of workshop localities (some km away from primary outcrops, advanced core reduction, sickle blades). The only two localities, which might perhaps be culturally classified (Gravettian?), are situated immediately above the river Vlára (Bylnice II and Vlachovice), corresponding herewith to the settlement pattern of the said culture. In the neighbourhood of radiolarite deposits we can expect evidence of all Upper Palaeolithic groups except Bohunician, in which this material is rare. Even though radiolarite spreads widely mostly in the Palaeolithic, artefacts of this period remain very sporadic on the Moravian side of the White Carpathians. However, some of them can be dated to the Middle Palaeolithic already. In the Neolithic and Eneolithic, in which the supposed mining activity (not yet reliably proved) should have taken place, the exploitation of this raw material decreases rapidly, as well in Eastern Moravia. If we attribute the extraction and distribution of siliceous rocks only with practical purpose, we will not be able to explain these contradictions in a satisfactory way.
Populations of the Minuartia verna group (sect. Polymechana Mattf.) from the Západne, Vysoké and Belianske Tatry Mts (W Carpathians) and from the Svidovec and Čorna Hora Mts (Ukrainian E Carpathians) are classified as a separate species Minuartia pauciflora (Kit. ex Kanitz) Dvořáková; the appropriate nomenclatural correction is proposed. Comments on speciation, taxonomic relationships, chromosome counts, distribution and plant sociology are given. A brief morphological comparison with M. rubella (Wahlenb.) Hiern (arctic zone of Holoarctis), M. gerardii (Willd.) Hayek (Alps and Pyrenees) and M. corcontica Dvořáková (Krkonoše Mts, N Czech Republic) is presented.
Cicerbita alpina was selected to elucidate the phylogeography of tall-herb species, an ecological group whose Quaternary history is rarely addressed. This species is a typical component of subalpine herbaceous communities in the mountains of Europe. Samples collected for this study comprised the entire range of species, with a focus on those in the Carpathians. The analysis based on AFLP fingerprinting revealed a lack of a strong phylogeographical structure implying that the different parts of the present-day range have not been isolated for a long period of time probably due to the biological characteristics of the species, such as its ability to disperse over great distances. However, the genetic structure indicates some phylogeographical trends, which may reflect traces of survival in local refugia and subsequent diversification into separate lineages during the last glacial period. Within the Carpathians, the division into the Western and South-Eastern Carpathian population groups is apparent. This division is maintained at a larger scale. In particular, the South-Eastern Carpathian group is similar to the Balkan populations, while the Western Carpathian populations are closely related to those in the Eastern Alps and Sudetes. The Scandinavian populations also have a genetic affinity with the latter group and originated from a source in the Eastern Alps or Western Carpathians, presumably via a stepping stone in a northern refugium.
The chromosome numbers of 95 populations of taxa belonging to the Scilla bifolia group growing in the territory of Western Carpathians, and adjacent part of the Pannonian lowland (Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic – Moravia) are presented. Scilla kladnii Schur (41 populations) and S. vindobonensis Speta (18 populations) have only the chromosome number 2n = 18. Both these diploid taxa seem to be karyologically uniform throughout their distribution. For S. drunensis (Speta) Speta subsp. drunensis (2 populations), and S. drunensis subsp. buekkensis (Speta) Kereszty (15 populations) the chromosome number 2n = 36 was found. For S. spetana Kereszty (2 populations), the chromosome number 2n = 54 was confirmed for Hungary and Austria. For two groups of populations of S. drunensis s.l. from Slovakia (14 populations in total) the chromosome number is 2n = 36, which is new information for the Western Carpathians. Apart from tetraploids, hexaploid populations with 2n = 54 were confirmed for three localities in Slovakia and Czech Republic (Moravia). All results are compared with earlier published data.
A taxonomic concept for the Hieracium nigrescens agg. (H. alpinum ≥ H. murorum) in the Western Carpathians is proposed. Three taxa at the species level are recognized, i.e. Hieracium jarzabczynum, H. mlinicae and H. vapenicanum. One new combination, Hieracium mlinicae (Hruby et Zahn) Chrtek f. et Mráz (H. nigrescens subsp. mlinicae Hruby et Zahn) is published. All taxa should be considered as endemic to the Western Carpathians (both the Polish and Slovakian parts). Detailed descriptions, drawings, lists of localities, distribution maps and determination key are provided along with a comparison with the last comprehensive account of the group (by Zahn 1936). Several lectotypes were chosen for the taxa recognized by Zahn within H. nigrescens s.l.
We investigated variation in the Melampyrum sylvaticum group in the Carpathian and Hercynian regions using morphological and molecular tools. The aim of our study was to examine differences in the pattern of variation between the Eastern Carpathians and region of theWestern Carpathians and the Hercynian Massif. We also tested correlations between putatively taxonomically important variation in corolla colour present in the Melampyrum sylvaticum group in the Eastern Carpathian region and other morphological and molecular traits. Samples were collected from populations of the M. sylvaticum group in the Hercynian Massif and the Eastern and Western Carpathians. Morphometric analyses of the size and shape of the corolla (based on thin plate spline with sliding semilandmarks), length of the anthers and especially molecular analyses based on sequencing the nuclear ITS and trnL-trnT regions of chloroplast DNA, confirmed that the populations occurring on the opposite sides of the Eastern-Western Carpathian biogeographic boundary are very different. It is likely that the eastern and western lineages have been isolated for a long time and the extant pattern of variation with character disagreement within the border zone, originated from hybridization and introgression. The differences in corolla colour did not coincide with the variation in morphological traits or molecular markers within the North-Eastern Carpathian region. In addition, the geographical distribution of the populations with contrasting corolla colours lacked any pattern and there are populations with both corolla colours as well as plants with transitional pale-yellow flowers. Therefore, it is suggested that M. saxosum and M. herbichii, microspecies delimited on the basis of corolla colour, are conspecific. The high level of molecular variation and its pattern indicate that the M. sylvaticum group may have survived in or near the Eastern Carpathians during the Weichselian Ice Age. This hypothesis is supported by several recent phytogeographical and palaeoecological studies, which indicate the existence of a glacial refuge in the Eastern Carpathian region. Molecular uniformity of theWestern Carpathian and Hercynian populations might in contrast indicate recent (Holocene) migration from assumed perialpine refuges.